"I'll have the steak and eggs." Ray said sliding into the booth.
Christa, already seated, ordered French toast. The waitress added their orders to the others she had just written down.
Gerard, Mikey, Frank and Bob who were already seated at the large corner booth looked up briefly then continued with their conversation.
"I just wonder if I should call Brian and ask him to have a lawyer ready." Gerard said before taking a sip of his coffee.
Ray and Christa exchanged a glance. The others seemed to be discussing something important that they knew nothing about. "Why do you need a lawyer?" Ray asked. He smiled at the waitress who served he and Christa their coffee.
Gerard realized that he and Christa had no idea what had happened at his house last night.” The lawyer is for Kell, not me."
"Kelly?" Christa asked, "Why does she need a lawyer?"
Gerard really didn't feel like rehashing the whole story. "She was out with her boyfriend last night and they got stopped by the police. Kell was driving."
"She's not old enough to drive." Christa said stating the obvious.
Gerard was tired from a sleepless night and cranky. "No Duh." As soon as he saw Christa's hurt look he felt badly. "Hey, sorry. I just didn't get any sleep last night. Kell was driving cause she said her boyfriend got sick on the drive home."
"You don't think that's what happened?" Ray asked
"The policemen who brought Kell home said that he had been drinking. I think that's why Kell was driving."
"Shit." Ray said. "So you think she's gonna get into enough trouble she'll need a lawyer?"
Gerard took another sip of coffee. "I hope not."
"See, Ray. I told you something was going on last night." She poked Ray's arm. "When I went to the ice machine I saw you guys zooming back and forth from room to room."
"Yeah, we were pretty freaked. Gee was talking to Monica when the police brought Kelly home and he didn't know what had happened. I was trying to get Kara but she was out with Alicia."
Bob explained.
"I was just fucking afraid something really bad had happened. I was going insane waiting for her to call back." Gerard told them.
"Sorry we didn't know what was going on. Not that we could have done anything other than offer moral support. But we were awfully busy watching a super hero movie." Christa turned to Ray and glared.
"Oh, yeah. What movie?" Gerard asked innocently.
"Ray, you wanna tell them what movie you picked out for us to watch?" Christa said tilting her head.
Ray looked sheepish. "You wanted to watch Fantastic Four. The movie I picked out had a super hero."
"Yeah, a super hero, a dog and ping pong balls." Christa said her eyes narrowing.
"Shit, you guys watched "Fantastic Foreplay? That one's a classic. Man, don't you just love how RodeHer fetches those ping pong balls" Frank said. Everyone at the table had thought he was still sleeping.
Christa cut him down with a glare.
"Holy shit, Ray. Do we have to go over girlfriend rules with you? What were you thinking, dude?" Mikey asked.
"It's not like we haven't watched one before...." He shut up when his leg became a kicking post.
Bob laughed looking at Mikey, "That day I walked in on you and Alicia I thought maybe you two were filming your own movie."
"Shut up, Bryar." Mikey said "How about you and Kara film one? You've got the feather.."
"It's Monica" Gerard said breaking into the discussion. He got up and walked away from the table so he could talk to her in private.
"Poor Kelly." Christa said watching Gerard walk away. "I feel for her."
"Yeah." Frank said taking a bite of his toast. "Now, back to last night's movie."
Christa glared him into silence too.

“Hey, Gee” Monica said sounding very tired, “We just got back from the police station.”
“How’d it go?” He asked as he found an empty alcove outside hotel restaurant to occupy during the conversation.
“The police were very nice. Kelly was terrified when we got there. Which as far as I’m concerned was good. Because she’s never been in any trouble before they ticketed her for driving without a license and put the fear of God in her concerning driving again before she has that license. It will take her awhile to pay off that ticket. It's $200.”
"You mean you didn't just pay it?" Gerard asked.
"Now, how can she learn a lesson if I pay the fine?" Monica shook her head, continuing. "It'll be okay. I think she's feeling a little better now."
Gerard heaved a sigh of relief, “That’s good to hear. How is she doing? Has she said anything else about last night?’
Monica sat down on the sofa, “Not a word. Matter of fact she’s hardly talking at all.”
Gerard glanced at his watch. He needed to finish his breakfast then he was slated to do an interview. “I really want to talk to her.”
Monica heard the hesitation in his voice. “You’re busy aren’t you? It’s okay, Gee. She’s not really in a talking mood right now anyway. Why don’t you give her a call later on when you can.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m blowing off talking to her.”
“I don’t think that at all. Like I said she’s not talking. As soon as we got home she took off for her room. I grounded her for a week and took her cell phone. No phone calls especially from Mike. I also disabled her computer.”
“That’s harsh” Gerard said “but I totally back your decision.” He sighed, “Honey, I gotta go. Tell Kell I love her and I’ll call her later today. Probably sometime before the concert cause you guys are two hours ahead of us time wise. If I wait until after the concert it’d be too late.”
“Love you Gee. Have a good day and don’t worry, okay?”
“I love you too, Hon. Talk to ya later.”
Gerard returned to the booth and took a sip of his cold coffee before filling the others in on what had happened back home.

Monica sat back and closed her eyes. She was tired. Last night try as she might she hadn’t slept well. When she finally had fallen asleep she’d had one hell of a nightmare. In it the police had come to the door but instead of what had really happened in the dream they were there to tell her Kelly had been involved in a fatal car accident. She had awaken from the nightmare crying. How she had wished Gee had been there to take her in his arms. The sound of the house phone startled her.
She reached over and lifted the receiver. “Hello”
“May I talk to Kelly?” Monica recognized Mike’s voice.
“No, Mike. Kelly’s grounded from last night’s incident. No phone or computer.”
“I’m really sorry she got into trouble,” Mike said.
“Really?” Monica said the sarcasm evident in her voice. “We just go back from the police station.”
There was no sound on Mike’s end of the line.
“Mike, how much did you drink last night?” Monica asked.
“Just one beer.” He answered quickly.
“Gotta tell you, the police tell a different story. They told me your parents are out of town but that they will be meeting with them as soon as they return. You might want to rethink that one beer answer. Honestly might be the best course.” Monica hung up the phone before he could answer.
Mike stared at the phone in his hand. “Well fuck,” He said.
“What dude?” Dylan asked taking his eyes off the TV screen for just a moment. He was deep into the X-Box game.
“Kelly’s mom said they’ve already talked to the police. What the fuck did she tell them?”
“Why”
“The bitch thinks I was drunk.”
“You were totally wasted, dude.” Dylan laughed.
“Shut the fuck up, this is serious. My old man is gonna shit. Kelly was supposed to tell them I was sick. The police didn’t give me a Breathalyzer. They don’t know for sure I was drunk. Man, that bitch has fucked up everything if she told them the truth.”
“So ask Kelly what she said.”
“The bitch won’t let me talk to her. Fuck, this is bad.” He sank down on the sofa. “Shit, what am I gonna do?”
“Don’t know dude. Told you to dump Kelly weeks ago. Fuck, she wouldn’t even put out. What the fuck were you doing with her anyway?’
“Fuck, are you kidding? Her stepdad is Gerard Way. How fuckin' cool is that? He already gave me tickets to Bamboozle. Now I’m screwed.”
Dylan glanced over at him. “Hand me a beer.”
Mike grabbed a can off the table gave it to Dylan then opened one for himself. “My parents don’t get back until Tuesday. I’ll talk to Kelly Monday morning at school. Maybe she hasn’t fucked this all up yet.”
Dylan laughed, “You're fucked dude.”

Kelly was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. Once more she was questioning her decision not to tell her Mom the truth about Mike. She had seen the look of hurt on her Mom’s face. Yeah, Mom knew she wasn’t telling the truth and she hadn’t talked to Dad yet. What was she gonna tell him? She closed her eyes trying to think. She’d have to tell him the same story. Mike didn’t need any more trouble. She’d break up with him for good. Dad had been right about one thing. She couldn’t help Mike. He had to decide for himself to stop drinking. He had to realize what kind of a person he was when he drank. Tears rolled silently down her face. She had really believed her loved her. How could she have been so stupid?
Monica knocked softly then opened the door. “I talked to Gerard. He’s gonna call you later today.”
Kelly looked over at her Mom and nodded.
“Want to talk?”
“No” Kelly answered. “I’m tired.”
Monica sighed, “Okay. If you change your mind let me know.” She turned to leave.
“Mom”
Monica turned to look at her.
“Love you.”
“I love you too, Kelly.”
Monica walked out the door. Kelly was suddenly hit with one of her “feelings” It was her Mom. Something was going to happen that would hurt her terrible. Not physically but emotionally. The sadness was crippling. She buried her face in her hands and cried harder.